now let's skip the tears and start on the whole-

Entry tags:

act 2

now let's skip the tears and start on the whole-

[You remember dying. Maybe the memory is clear and bright and your body still aches from the cause. Maybe it was fast enough that you didn't feel it and don't remember what you went through. But no matter how you went out you're still trapped here.

When you open your eyes it might take you a minute to recognize your surroundings. For the executed, it's your dressing room. For the victims, you startle awake in the place your body was discovered. But no matter where you are nothing is where you remember it. It's like everything has been picked up and moved to the other side of the room. The entire room has been perfectly mirrored from what it used to be and, upon leaving, it seems the rest of the opera house is just the same. If you remember one room being in the east wing, it's now in the west. If it was in the west, it's now in the east.

Welcome back to the Opera House, friends. Even in death you're still in the woods.]

WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5

[ooc: Welcome to deadland, darlings! It's a perfectly mirrored version of the Opera House and each week, as new people die after new floors have been revealed, the stairwell doors will unlock and allow you to reach them. For example, week 3 victims will unlock floor 2 and so on and so forth. Also, all dead characters will wake up at their actual canon point.

Have fun because we have some fun things planned for you.]

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Oh, if it's possible to rescue me

[To save any of them. From their accidents, from their memories, from their mistakes, from themselves- his voice goes raw, as if he's trying to bridge the connection between death and life, to be heard]

Now'd be perfect!

[He holds the note for as long as he can, then...sags. Sits on the ground and rubs his face, feeling...tired, again.]

[ Riley's often perfect posture's taken a real hit here. She slouches and hunches, letting herself sink into the teddy bear.

For a few long moments, she's silent. ]

...I didn't...think anyone could understand it. There's- Jeremy, sort of, but he's not...on purpose. And, there's Angus, but he's not... [ The word doesn't really come to her. ] So. I felt- ...alone.

[He kind of wishes he had one, himself. As it is, he's just sort of...drawn a leg up to his chest, and is resting his chin on it. Quiet. Thinking.]

I had...multiple chances to stop what I was doing. One way or another. I just...told myself that I couldn't let it all be for nothing. That I had to at least go back once, to fix it, but then...I worried that it wasn't enough. So I did it again.

[The point is- he chose to do something. Like...Riley chose.

Nothing but a shadowman inside, indeed. He closes his eyes.]

...you've still got your whole life ahead of you, when this is over. You're going to jail, and it's going to stay with you, but...you can still change. Me...I figured since I was dead anyway, I wouldn't have to- live with what I'd done.

[ Riley listens. She wants to- to object, her life feels pretty over, it feels empty, but- then. ]

What?

[ She's more than a little shocked. ]

You were- what?

[Silence.

Then he raises a hand to touch his chest, drawing a small line with two fingers.]

I'd...saved someone from someone else. I thought I had, anyway. I left to get her some water, and when I came back, she...there was a knife sticking out of me. The last thing I remember is her leaving, and the world going black.

[Nobody knew he was there.

Nobody would come for him.]

[ Riley can feel her whole world spin and her heart clench. ]

Someone you trusted? [ Faint. Like something's pressing down on her. ] And you- how- you couldn't have. You were alive, before...right? You- you must've just been...really hurt.

Mm. And I saved her from someone else I thought I'd trusted. [He smiles bitterly] I told myself I could trust everyone else back there [meaning the Opera House] that they wouldn't do that kind of thing to me, ever, but...

[Maybe that's why, in part, he tried doing it alone. Why he didn't trust any of them. Why he didn't talk to any of them. It came up with Santana, but- admitting he died...

Stephen sighs, and, almost whimsically;]

She took a picture of me after she'd done it. When I was on the ground, bleeding.

[ Her eyes go wide, and all she can do is stare.

Chess looks up at her already choking up blood. She looks down, concerned only with the fact that she might've gotten blood on her shirt. She didn't. Content, she turns, the sound of the other girl's gurgling in her ears.

Quite suddenly, the bear's squished between them, as Riley launches herself at Stephen, arms awkwardly wrapped around him from the side in a terrified hug. ]

I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry.

[oh. this is happening.

...

He's okay with it. Stephen didn't realize how close he was to breaking down until her arms are about him, and- maybe he doesn't fully break, but his shoulders tremble as he wraps his arms back around her. After days- over a week of convincing himself that it was Okay, he can at least, admit to himself, admit to Riley?

It's not.

He doesn't say it out loud, though. He just rubs small circles on her back, breath hitching just a bit. If he focuses on her, he can manage himself. He can...lie and say he's fine.

Shadowmen, apparently, have many different utilities.]

[ She trembles as she holds him. Her lips rest next to his ear, and as his shoulders shake, her grip tightens.

She repeats what she did to Jeremy, when it had come out that Stephen was the last one to kill. ]

Got you. I g-got you.

[ Honestly, she doesn't know what else she can say. It sticks her still, but she doesn't want to let go. ]

[For now, she does. But how long will that be? How long until they're brought back to play another part, or- sent back, having fulfilled their use?

I know where I'm going.

He squeezes her tight, not wanting to let go.]

Don't give up on yourself. For me? No matter how hard it gets. And- find Christine and Jeremy, too. I don't really understand, but- the Wizard said your worlds are the same, and they weren't before. So you all can look out for one another. Or at least write. [Given...everything.]

What?

[ She chokes lightly. What is she to respond to first? Her fingers dig into his sleeve. ]

Don't talk like that. Y- you were alive there. It doesn't- why would you have to go back to being dead? If we're all- brought back? You can't- you can't tell me those things if you're just- just going to-

I've spent the last week getting used to it. [he sounds Tired] I don't...I don't see another option, Riley.

[...does he want to? Who knows.]

I could've done that as a mistake to fix, go back to before I lost my memory, but- I realized that you all are so much more important to me. And I don't think the Wizard's going to suddenly decide that I get a second shot, anyway.

The Wizard doesn't have anything to do with it, I don't- don't care what he wants. If they c-can fix things for the others, they can fix things for you, too. You don't have to- let go.

[ Please don't let go. Please. ]

[He wants to believe it. So badly. He's petting her hair, now, trying to soothe her - and himself.

He can't break down again. It's already unfair, how much he's put on her shoulders. He's treating her like an adult, but she's just a kid.]

If there's a way. [He swallows around the lump in his throat] If there's a way that doesn't involve hurting anyone, I'll- I'll take it. I just...I don't know if there is one, Riley. Even if we were still in that damn place.

He- the Phantom said he- that he could. That he would. If he can, then...the others, can- Or- B-Beetlejuice, he said he could do something...if the Wizard's gone. There are ways, there have to be ways.

[ Her chin digs into his shoulder. Refusing to let go, refusing to even loosen her grip, lest... ]

I- Y-you could...go home...with Jeremy and Christine or- or someone. You could- be safe.

[ Not like she can offer anything. Not like she has the place to. ]

[The only one he wants to go home with isn't an option anymore. But he allows himself a moment - just a moment! - to imagine that there is a chance, and he immediately regrets it. There's such a feeling in his chest, something he's been refusing to allow himself to feel for days.

Only then does he realize his eyes are wet.]

...we'll see. [It's soft, but it's all he can manage right now]

[ You have to promise me, she wants to say. It's desperate, insistent, more in-tune with the firm girl she tries to be. But instead: ]

You have to visit me. They're n- not going to. [ They. Her parents. Her- ] Please. I can't- can't do this on my own.

Riley...

[And although
I'll be out of sight, dear
Know I'll be right here
Right here, forever

The song rings in his head, but he can't voice it. He won't voice it, he won't do that to her. Instead, he pulls back just enough so they can look at one another, and so he can offer her as much a smile as he can manage.

Thing is, it's not a fake smile. And while it's a weak smile, it's real.]

If there's a way, I will. I promise. But you won't be doing this on your own.

[ That smile ignites a little spark in her. Just enough to keep the flame going. Like a little kid, like the scared stuttering girl from fourth grade, she sniffles and almost pitifully asks: ] I'm not?

You charmed a fallen angel. You really think he's gonna let something like jail stand in his way of getting back to you?

[ Her expression just crumbles and she buries her face in his chest. ]

H-he said- he was g- going to meet my- my t-team. F-f-friends. [ The word hurts in her mouth. ] He s-s-said- he was m-my own personal fallen angel.

[ She doesn't want to talk about him, with Stephen, because-- because she knows it must hurt. But, she misses him, that gentle love and approval, every day. ]

He will. You're important to him.

[It hurts, but- not as much as it could. Talking about Mephisto loving Riley is one thing. Talking about how Mephisto feels about him...

Stephen continues rubbing her back, just...trying to soothe her.]

And like I said- Jeremy and Christine could see you. Write you, if nothing else. Everybody who can, will. A lot of people care about you.

[ With a muffled whimper, she cries: ]

What kind of p-parents'll let their k-k-kid write to a c-convicted felon?!

[ It's followed by another burst of tears, and another wave of shame. Crying about going to jail, for something she did. Lives she stole. Pathetic, aren't you pathetic, too pathetic to even get away with it. ]

I-I knew Che- Chess since...we were k-kids, Farrah was- was fifteen, and I- I helped send Mattie t- to prison, she's just- she's younger than Red! They're g-gonna think I'm- know, that- I am dangerous.

[ She swings rapidly, from urgently needing connection and feeling sickened by it. Knowing she's not strong enough to do this alone, but loathing herself to even dream... ]

[They don't have to know. Except- that's not right. He doesn't have an immediate answer to that, not that isn't patronizing.

Except...]

You were dangerous. And maybe you still could be, but- so could I. And, Riley? [He reaches down to touch her chin, force her to look up] You wanna know why I told you that you weren't like Angus, before? It's because you felt bad about what you'd done. You said it was a mistake. You knew you'd done wrong, and- that means there's a part of you that still wants to be better. I want to believe there's a part of Angus, too.

So let's get better. Okay?

now let's skip the tears and start on the whole-

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cw; suicidal ideation - ish

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cw: choking, death mention

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cw; continued 'fuck living', just assume it happens more-or-less the rest of the thread

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